Chapter 41: The Flagship, The Distant Expanse!
Strivon / Ash Editor: Geoffrey / Lancent
Li Yao’s mind went blank; he felt an indescribable chill in the air.
There really was a cultivator who developed the Demon God Virus 40,000 years ago, leading to the rise of the Demon Beast civilization. Humanity was forced to enter into a 30,000 year long Great Dark Age.
Research-type cultivators were certainly existences on the level of devils and gods!
Composing himself, Li Yao continued with a question, “Then what’s the fourth type?”
“The fourth type is the creation-type cultivator. This type has their spiritual energy and computational ability in opposing equilibrium.They also need to have a dexterous pair of hands with bold and unconstrained imagination. In this way, they become experts in fabrication! Actually, this type of cultivator is also seen quite commonly. For instance, the most popular profession in the world of cultivators, the Master Refiner, is precisely a creation-type cultivator! Legends say that the most powerful of creation-type cultivators can craft a warship bigger than the moon, encompassing the starry skies! They can also craft the ‘Star Pulverizing Cannons’ that contain boundless power! One shell can flatten the entire continent!”
Li Yao’s eyelids twitched. Finally, he knew what his own path would be — to be a creation-type cultivator!
Zheng Dongming spread open his five fingers and curled with his pinky, saying, “The fifth type is the culture-type cultivator. Both their spiritual energy and computational abilities may not necessarily be the most outstanding, but they possess the most profound and mysterious of mental powers. At any point in time and space, they can influence someone by their side by enveloping them into their own mental world. Honestly, the culture-type cultivator is the most mysterious type of all. No matter how much the expert researchers tried studying this type, they were all unable to break open the mysteries of this type’s mental powers. Often, the culture-type is found to be the best poet, artist, novelist, and musician!”
Li Yao nodded his head thoughtfully. “Artists? Novelists? It sounds like they don’t have any combat strength!”
Zheng Dongming laughed strangely. “That’s not necessarily true. The common culture-type cultivator may not be the greatest expert in combat, but there are a few utterly terrifying culture-types different from the norm. So much so that no one would dare provoke them rashly, as they are existences with absolute strength! For a rare example, within the cultivator-types, there is a special kind of profession called the Grand Illusionist. Normally when you look at one, you only see an ordinary author, with nothing weird about him. But once he gets angry, his mental world tears and explodes through to reality. He can pull others into a fiction marble of his own creation! Just think about it. The complete laws of nature within that domain field are all created by him. They can call the wind and summon the rain. They’re omnipotent! Even cultivators several stages higher than the Grand Illusionist, once they are caught and forced into the fiction marble, will have great difficulty escaping unharmed.”
“The world of cultivators really is filled with all sorts of fantastic marvels. So there’s this many awesome jobs!” Li Yao thought deeply for a moment and was forced to admit that a Grand Illusionist would be a completely difficult enemy to deal with.
When compared to the most mystical of cultivators, the most ordinary battle-type cultivator could simply be considered a domesticated and harmless upright citizen.
Zheng Dongming’s fingers pinched together, forming a fist. He said, “The six type is the hybrid-type. They possess the characteristics of several different types, allowing them to assume many different important roles. They are rare geniuses known as jack of all trades. Anyways, the world of cultivators is vast and boundless. The more one studies in a subject, the harder they find to master it. The hybrid-type cultivators, who are able to cross over to other realms, are actually few in number. They appear once in awhile, and when they do, the major guilds will always fight over them. And they become major stars that no one dares to approach for fear of getting burned.”
Li Yao’s heart yearned. He felt that he possessed both the potential of being a battle-type and a creation-type. He had the chance to become a hybrid-type cultivator.
However, it's still early to think of these things at the present. It’s better to concentrate on dealing with the Limit Challenge Competition for now.
When Li Yao was lost in thought, the levitating ship vibrated lightly. It’s speed slowed down gradually.
The surrounding students let out gasps of surprise.
Li Yao gazed as far as he can into the distance. The view ahead was completely different from the dead calm of sea with the golden scales of fish in the ocean.
It was unknown when the ocean’s surface turned black, but there were several dozen terrifying gigantic maelstroms up ahead. They cried with ear-splitting roars of thunder. They were like dreadful sea demons opening their dozens of mouths, revealing jagged canine teeth.
And surrounded by layers of these maelstroms was a series of twisted archipelagos, long and twisted. It looked like a flood dragon in the middle of the ocean, thrashing with all its might in the raging waves and stormy seas.
This was their destination, Devil Flood Dragon Island. Arena No. 571 of the Limit Challenge Competition!
…What caused the numerous students to gasp in surprise wasn’t the figure of Devil Flood Dragon Island, but rather the demonic maelstroms that spun around the island, and even more so, the black ocean with its raging and bellowing waves.
And floating calmly above all this... was a gigantic crystal battleship half covered by the clouds!
This was a completely old, out-dated, dilapidated, yet awe inspiring, super heavy-class crystal battleship that radiated profoundness. It’s total length was over 7,800 meters, weighed over 63 million tons, and was manned by 132,510 active duty navy personnel. And manning the critical position of handling the ship were 300 refinement stage cultivators. It was only in this way that this ship was able to operate without issues.
It looked like this crystal battleship had been dealt heavy damage from its appearance. It was riddled with scars and was full of holes. There were marks of explosions and corrosion left on its exterior. Quite a few places were mottled, fragmented, and in pieces. Of special note was the forward deck and bridge at the front of the battleship. It was smashed through even more thoroughly, exposing a terrifyingly enormous gaping hole. It gave off a feeling of a regretful giant bellowing towards the skies with a giant open mouth.
It had already lost its propulsion power, so it had been floating here for a very very long time. Enough time for the ocean wind to erode its armour, leaving the traces of a countless number of years. Even it’s original shocking gaping wound had become a part of it. It had become a fossil, a monument, a gravestone.
Only… On some different mental plane, in a spiritual world unseen by the naked eye, it was quite like an awe-inspiring ferocious tiger, a giant dragon soaring over the highest of heavens. It gave of a unapproachable radiance of coldness!
“It’s the Federal Army’s eternal flagship — the Distant Expanse!” Even Li Yao was stunned by the majestic aura of this crystal battleship. His breath was stifled involuntarily.
The Distant Expanse was born 500 years ago in the Federation. The Federation mobilized practically their entire Cultivator work force to craft this master battleship!
years ago during the Great Blood Ocean War, the Distant Expanse acted as the flagship for the Federal Army. It fought in the fierce battle against millions of Demon forces of the Far East Demon Kingdom at the Far East Ocean.
The fate of the Federation depended on the outcome of the Great Blood Ocean War. Because they were able to secure victory in this war… Because they were able to annihilate the Far East Demon Kingdom… The Star Glory Federation was able to obtain ultimate-supremacy in the Heaven’s Origin Sector. The fate of the nation grew more prosperous with each passing day!
However, even though the Distant Expanse was able to sink the enemy Heaven’s Field, it also suffered critical damage and fell into the ocean. It was only 80 years ago that the Federation was able to salvage it to the surface; however, it unable to be used as a battleship.
The Federation took this crystal battleship and renovated it into a war museum and a patriotic education base. It would float forever atop the battlefield in which it fought.
However, popular legends say that although the Far East Demon Kingdom was annihilated, the Demon Emperor did not actually perish. He hides still, deep in the depths of the endless ocean. He continues to gather the souls of his Demon Soldiers that perished on the battlefield as a futile attempt to one day launch a counteroffensive, to come back even stronger.
And so, this was the reason why this area of the ocean has turned into a place where evil winds blow with fury. A place covered with maelstroms. A ghastly and terrifying sheet of deathly darkness… This was all caused by the Demon Emperor on the ocean floor wanting to create havoc.
So, the Federation took the Distant Expanse and had it hover in the air where it had fought back in the day. Year round, tour groups of hot-blooded youngster came and toured around, stimulated with vigorous thoughts of war and valor. These thoughts condensed into an Immortal National Spirit of Star Glory Federation, which would suppress the Demon Emperor for eternity and extinguish the millions of Demon Souls completely.
“Everyone, quickly look! There’s something in the air!” a student cried in astonishment.
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Author’s words:
Under everyone’s directions, I saw many friends in the comment section suggest that I add a some postscript to the end, to interact with everyone more.
Teacher Cow did think of this before, but after some deliberation I felt that this method of chasing more readers every day, would probably not make a difference. From the perspective of the general reader, if I were reading and am engrossed in the chapter, then suddenly the author jumps out with some gibberish and nonsense... I think this would have some influence on the reading experience. So Teacher Cow will still continue to keep comments/statements in this work to a minimum.
Everyone, if there’s any comments, just leaving them in the review section is fine. Teacher Cow has seen them. When I have time I will exchange words with everyone for sure.
Today I mainly want to give everyone an update. At the present, my current release schedule is not very fast. Actually, Teacher Cow’s speed can be considered so-so. I can write 8000-1000 and even 12,300 words in a day when I’m inspired.
However, my current energy has been allocated to the overarching story behind the scenes, delicate outlines, and also supporting framework, in preparation to bring together into a rough draft. So, when I don’t have any suggestions, I have no choice but to control my writing speed. This is also for the sake of the overarching framework, so that it can explode forth often. I hope everyone can understand.
Teacher Cow is a newcomer. This book may not be as dazzling and flashy as the top most popular books on the ranking list, but our comment section here is quite lively. There are quite a few friends who have offered valuable suggestions. Teacher Cow is deeply moved. I will earnestly write a good book for sure. Of course if you can everyone, hit the recommend button and etc. But, what’s still important is to make reviews in the review section often. Teacher Cow will look at every comment. Everyone communicate with Teacher Cow, and Teacher Cow will be very satisfied as well. This time I thank everyone for the support. Teacher Cow also wishes for the day when the over-arching framework is completed, and open an all-fire bombardment!
(My novel, Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, contains a lot of new content on the official Wechat platform~ There’s also a 100% lottery with big prizes for everyone! Open Wechat and hit the upper right ‘+ Friend’ button. Search for public ID ‘qdread’ and follow! Speed is of the essence!)